MLB, NPB Reach Agreement On Posting System

WEDNESDAY: The MLB Executive Council will have a conference call on Monday to ratify the agreement, tweets Sherman.

5:43pm: The posting system document has yet to be finalized, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman adds, even when approved by NPB, the agreement still needs to be ratified by MLB's Executive Council, which could come this week. In a second tweet, Sherman reports the main points of the new posting deal have been settled with smaller items slowing things down.

SUNDAY, 3:15pm: Japanese teams will be able to set a desired amount for the posting fee up to a maximum of $20MM, reports Mainichi. Once the Japanese team sets the posting fee, it will be made public to all 30 MLB clubs and all teams who tender that figure will be able to negotiate with the player. The Mainichi report adds the new posting system is expected to go into effect as early as next week and will pave the way for Tanaka to be posted.

THURSDAY: Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball have reached a basic agreement on a new posting system, according to the Japan Times. The new system will indeed have a maximum posting fee of $20MM. A formal draft of the agreement is currently being prepared, NPB secretary general Atsushi Ihara told the Times.

The Times report says the final details are being ironed out, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke with a source who told him that if multiple teams submit the same bid, the player will be allowed to negotiate with all of those clubs. Only the signing club would be required to pay the posting fee, which still will not count against MLB's luxury tax (the ensuing contract, of course, will count). MLB fully expects Rakuten Golden Eagles ace Masahiro Tanaka to be posted, Rosenthal adds (AllTwitterlinks). Rosenthal's report meshes with the details reported by Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times yesterday.

The Golden Eagles, not surprisingly, opposed the $20MM maximium posting fee even when NPB's other 11 teams all agreed to the pact, according to the Times report. However, they have now accepted the system, meaning the new system has been passed.

The new changes should open Tanaka and future top players to negotiate with nearly any team, as the $20MM posting fee doesn't figure to be a deterrent for most big league clubs.